2,700-year-old fabric found in Greece

ATHENS -- Archaeologists in Greece have discovered a rare 2,700-year-old piece of fabric inside a copper urn from a burial they speculated imitated the elaborate cremation of soldiers described in Homer's "Iliad."

The yellowed, brittle material was found in the urn during excavation in the southern town of Argos, a Culture Ministry announcement said Wednesday...

The cylindrical urn also contained dried pomegranates —- offerings linked with the ancient gods of the underworld —- along with ashes and charred human bones from an early 7th century B.C. cremation.

[Archaeologist Alkistis] Papadimitriou said the material was preserved for nearly 3,000 years by the corroding copper urn. "Copper oxides killed the microbes which normally destroy fabric," she told The Associated Press.